Update on OPPD Outage

A major power outage left about 52,000 OPPD customers without power Sunday. A mix of snowfall and trees with leaves is to blame. By Monday morning, the outage was down to about 8,400.

OPPD reported that work overnight was slow due to a considerable amount of branches that needed to be moved. Crews first worked to restore circuits, which brought larger numbers of customers back online.

Once circuits are restored, progress is expected to slow as crews focus on many pockets of individual outages.

For customers, the outage was both understandable and frustrating.

"It's just very frustrating. Very frustrating. Like you said, we have no clue, and I just with that we had some more information," Melanie Roll said.

She and her mother had been bundled up against the creeping cold since Noon Sunday.

"We're trying to keep warm. There's no hot food to eat, so trying to find something to eat," Roll said.

There was no light, no heat and no food to eat.

"Is it just an hour? Is it all night? Is it a couple of days?" Roll wondered.

Like many, Roll had to make the decision to stick it out or find another place to stay for the night and hope the lights would be back on when they return.

"I don't know if we need to get a motel room. I'm not sure what we need to do. It's so cold in here and my mom, at 83, she's freezing. She's had her coat on for a while, so I don't feel like I have any choice," Roll said.

Cold homes were just one of several problems following the snow.

Many traffic lights were also out throughout the metro with stop signs placed at some intersections to remind drivers to treat it like a four-way stop.

Still, plenty of accident calls came in throughout the afternoon hours.

Fallen limbs, heavy with snow, weren't only taking out power lines. Cars and homes sustained damage as they tumbled to the ground.

Overnight, the concern is that damp roads may freeze and create icy conditions, and more accidents.

Snow moved out of the area and melted quickly, but left a mess in its wake.